Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 120631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 603(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 603(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
Jocelyn was friction.
She questioned and pushed back. Conflict built character. So when he assumed he could take whatever he wanted, she refused him. Some twisted part of her believed everyone needed a little resistance in life. And no one should move with absolute impunity.
Soren’s entitlement could be unbearable at times. He lived a charmed life of privilege, where he seldom heard the word “no”.
As a child, she’d recognized this character flaw before she could name it. It awakened an urge to needle him, and she spent the next twenty years bursting his pampered little bubble whenever she spotted a vulnerability.
She sighed. “We’ve been lucky.”
“What do you mean?”
“For all the fights, we can still tolerate each other. Wren’s having a baby, Soren. She and Greyson, they’re really doing this. I mean, they’re married. That’s not going away.”
“I don’t follow. What’s that got to do with us?”
“Don’t you see? They all stomach our bickering, but there’s a limit. You’re asking for too much. And when it backfires—which it will—where will we be? He’s your brother, and she’s my best friend.”
“Wren’s my best friend, too.”
She gave him a sardonic look as if to say, don’t even. “We live in a small town, Soren. People will take sides when things go south.”
“Who says they have to go south?”
“History. You and I both know how this will end. You need to think about the cost. Do you know how rare it is to stay as tightly woven as the five of us have?”
“I’ve thought about that—”
“Not enough.”
“You’re wrong, Joce. I thought about it plenty. It consumed me after that first time we slept together. I thought we broke something irreparable, and the others would find out and never forgive us. Then it happened again. And again. And eventually, I realized everything was fine.”
“That’s because it was a secret. Do you remember when Greyson threw that big party at your dad’s during his senior year and someone broke that vase in the hall?”
He chuckled. “The Ming dynasty one? Yeah, I remember.”
“Grey flipped out.”
“For no reason. No one ever realized the vase shattered.”
“That’s because we swept the broken pieces into a drawer. We’ve been living in a drawer, Soren. The consequences haven’t even begun to surface.”
He looked off in the distance as if recalling moments from the past. “It was still one of the best parties. I’d do it all over again.”
“You’re missing the point. A priceless vase was destroyed!”
He laughed at her frustration. “For a priceless experience. I’d say that’s worth it.”
“See, this is what I mean. You’re the most bullheaded man I know.”
“And you’re the most prickly woman I know.”
“Damnit, Soren, try to understand what I’m saying. I won’t change. Every man I’ve dated has tried to convert me into something I’m not. I like my freedom, and I have no interest in making myself quieter or softer or more refined to complement someone else’s life. I’m single by design, not consequence.”
“Have I asked you to change?”
She gave him a flat stare. “You don’t ask for anything. You command, and you’ve tried to order me around plenty.”
He snickered. “You like being ordered around.”
She smacked his arm. “That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”
“Jocelyn, listen to me. You’re predicting things that haven’t happened yet, and finding me guilty for crimes I’ve yet to commit. I have no intention of changing you. Why would I?”
“Because I don’t fit your life. I don’t perform.”
“Good. There are enough fake women out there.”
“You say that now, but what happens when you have some fancy event to attend, and you need a date who silently holds her designer clutch and poses as arm candy all night, laughing softly at misogynistic jokes that are only funny at the disenfranchised expense of others? I wouldn’t be able to stomach that. On the contrary, I’d probably end up telling off one of your stuffy colleagues and ruining all possibilities of future business deals.”
He didn’t deny it, because he knew more than anyone how short her fuse could be.
Even today, when Olivia approached her. She should have just walked away, but she couldn’t. That prissy bitch had shown her claws, and Jocelyn bit back.
Maybe there was something broken inside of her. Or maybe it came from years of protecting herself when no one else came to save her. Whatever the cause, to the battlefield of lost boyfriends and her agent’s dismay, she was beyond refinement or PR training. And Soren Hawthorne’s life took center stage in a very public light.
“Look, I’ve spent years dating women who can hold a smile through the most pretentious affairs. They play the role perfectly. They know the script, and yes, it makes some situations easier, but it’s all performative, an act they’ve mastered, so when they do compliment me, I have no idea if it’s genuine. With you, I never know what might come out of your mouth, but I know it’s real and unrehearsed, Joce.”